A typical assembly method for data storage devices is that of swaging a head gimbal assembly (HGA) to the tip of an actuator arm or actuator arms to the bearing assembly of an actuator motor. Typical of problems incurred in such manufacturing is that swaging and similar mechanical metal joining methods can create deformation in the supporting base plate, which in turn can cause gram loading, roll static attitude changes (RSA) and pitch static attitude (PSA) in components such as actuator arms. Also, these manufacturing processes can result in high resonance variations in storage device components.
Further, these mechanical processes are generally excessively costly, adding to costs identified by analyzing the bill of materials (BOM) of the component assemblies, such as for example the actuator assembly. With this regard, a process known as stackable arm adhesive process (SAAP) has been adopted as an improvement over the mechanical swaging techniques of the past, an improvement reflected in reduction of the BOM (bill of materials) costs. The SAAP process, using adhesive to join the components, has not only improved costs, it has had a degree of beneficial quality effects
However, the stackable arm adhesive process (SAAP) has not proved to be very effective in reducing the labor overhead (LOH) cost of component assembly due to lower unit per hour (UPH) production costs and the attendant increase in capital tooling investment. Such deleterious effects on total unit cost (TUC) is understandable since the stackable arm adhesive process (SAAP) is a two part process that includes UV exposure of the adhesive, followed by a heat clamping step for final curing of the adhesive that is sandwiched between the adhering parts.
There is a need for an adhesive bonding method that eliminates, or substantially reduces, the deleterious effects of mechanical steps such as swaging, while eliminating the cost deficiencies of previously known adhesive assembly processes. The present invention fills such need.